Total energy expenditure and body composition changes following peripheral blood stem cell transplantation and participation in an exercise programme

The purpose of this investigation was to assess changes in total energy expenditure (TEE), body weight (BW) and body composition following a peripheral blood stem cell transplant and following participation in a 3-month duration, moderate-intensity, mixed-type exercise programme. The doubly labelled and singly labelled water methods were used to measure TEE and total body water (TBW). Body weight and TBW were then used to calculate percentage body fat (%BF), and fat and fat-free mass (FFM). TEE and body composition measures were assessed pretransplant (PI), immediately post-transplant (PII) and 3 months post-PII (PIII). Following PII, 12 patients were divided equally into a control group (CG) or exercise intervention group (EG). While there was no change in TEE between pre- and post-transplant, BW (P

Are thiazide diuretics preferred as first-line therapy for hypertension? An appraisal of The Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT)

No Abstract

How to teach mathematics with MOODLE

The aim of this article is to present a Project in the Oporto’s Institute of Accounting and Administration, which pretends to contribute for a change in the way of teaching and learning Mathematics. One of the main objectives of this project is to innovate the teaching and learning processes, exploring technologies as a pedagogical resource and to induce higher motivation to students, improve the rate of success and make available to students a set of materials adapted to their needs. This concern is justified due to the fact that students have a weak preparation, without consolidated basis. Since the year 2007/2008 the courses were adjusted to the Bologna process, which requires several changes in teacher’s and student’s roles, methodologies and assessment. The number of weekly classes has been reduced, so it was necessary to develop new strategies and methodologies to support the student. With the implementation of the Bologna Process in the Accounting degree, we felt a great need to provide other types of activities to students. To complement our theoretical and practical classes we have developed a project called MatActiva based on the Moodle platform offered by PAOL - Projecto de Apoio On-Line (Online Support Project). Moodle allows us to use the language TEX to create materials that use mathematical symbols. Using this functionality, we created a set of easy to use interactive resources. In MatActiva project, the students have access to a variety of different materials. We have followed a strategy that makes the project compatible with the theoretical and practical subjects/classes, complementing them. To do so, we created some resources, for instance multiple-choice tests, which are the most accessed by the students. These tests can be realized and corrected on-line and for each wrong answer there is a feedback with the resolution. We can find other types of resources: diagnostic tests, theoretical notes. There are not only the pre-requirements for subjects mathematics, but also materials to help students follow up the programs. We also developed several lessons. This activity consists of a number of pages, where each page has contents and leads to other pages, based on the student's progress. The teacher creates the choices and determines the next page that the student will see, based upon their knowledge. There is also an area of doubts, where the students can place all the mathematical doubts they have, and a teacher gives the answers or clues to help them in their work. MatActiva also offers an area where we can find some humour, curiosities, contests and games including mathematical contents to test the math skills, as well as links to pages about mathematical contents that could be useful for the study. Since ISCAP receives ERASMUS students and some of them attend mathematics, we developed some materials in English, so they can also use MatActiva. The main objectives of our project are not only to bring success in the subjects of mathematics, but also to motivate the students, encourage them to overcome theirs difficulties through an auto-study giving them more confidence and improve their relationship with the mathematics as well as the communication between students and teachers and among students.

Como avaliar as aprendizagens das práticas musicais em Educação Musical

É do conhecimento geral que muitos professores ensinam os alunos a ouvir, cantar e compor, mas usam testes escritos para avaliar as aprendizagens. Este facto revela que, por um lado, há quem tenha a ideia que os testes escritos estão mesmo a avaliar as práticas musicais e, por outro lado, também há quem considere que é muito difícil e inconsistente avaliar as práticas musicais porque a Música tem um carácter transitório, efémero, imaterial. Além do problema ser interessante, ele é abrangente porque existe tanto entre os professores especialistas de Música como entre os professores generalistas de Educação de Infância e de 1º Ciclo. A experiência levada a cabo nos últimos três anos no Mestrado em Ensino de Educação Musical no Ensino Básico sobre a forma de avaliar as aprendizagens dos alunos em Educação Musical mantém os testes escritos para avaliar os conhecimentos teóricos, mas introduz um instrumento de avaliação das práticas musicais, as grelhas de descritores de desempenho. Estas grelhas, ainda que mantendo princípios orientadores comuns, são sempre feitas à medida para cada situação específica de obra, atividade musical, alunos e são aplicadas não só em observação direta, mas também sobre registos áudio/vídeo. Estes instrumentos são construídos pelos docentes e não em conjunto com os alunos, mas são-lhes apresentados e explicados desde o início de cada unidade didática, usados regulamente para autoavaliação formativa e nas apresentações finais para avaliação sumativa. Desta forma os alunos sabem desde o início onde se espera que cheguem e sabem em cada momento do processo em que ponto se encontram e que problemas/dificuldades musicais devem ser ultrapassados. Em cada atividade comparámos a autoavaliação dos alunos com a avaliação dos professores e verificámos em todas as situações uma elevada correlação positiva (r > 0,9). Teremos ainda que consolidar os dados já obtidos pelo que esperamos o envolvimento de mais professores. A possibilidade de divulgar a solução aqui apresentada, nomeadamente, através de ações de formação contínua, permitirá um evidente aumento da consistência e fiabilidade da avaliação das práticas musicais em Educação Musical.

Comparison of the pencil beam convolution algorithm and the analytical anisotropic algorithm in breast tumors

The calculation of the dose is one of the key steps in radiotherapy planning1-5. This calculation should be as accurate as possible, and over the years it became feasible through the implementation of new algorithms to calculate the dose on the treatment planning systems applied in radiotherapy. When a breast tumour is irradiated, it is fundamental a precise dose distribution to ensure the planning target volume (PTV) coverage and prevent skin complications. Some investigations, using breast cases, showed that the pencil beam convolution algorithm (PBC) overestimates the dose in the PTV and in the proximal region of the ipsilateral lung. However, underestimates the dose in the distal region of the ipsilateral lung, when compared with analytical anisotropic algorithm (AAA). With this study we aim to compare the performance in breast tumors of the PBC and AAA algorithms.

EWASTEU Programme: proposals to minimise the problem of e‑waste

Hoje em dia muitos dos equipamentos elétricos e eletrónicos que compramos ficam obsoletos num curto espaço de tempo por causa dos rápidos avanços tecnológicos neste campo. Equipamentos como computadores, telemóveis e equipamentos elétricos e eletrónicos de pequeno e grande porte são transformados em lixo eletrónico e muitos deles são despejados no lixo comum. Para alterar este cenário, a União Europeia publicou diretivas neste domínio com o intuito de controlar o crescimento do lixo eletrónico e reduzir o seu impacto. Neste contexto, a Universidade de Yaşar (Turquia) submeteu à União Europeia um projeto (EWASTEU) com o objetivo de fornecer uma visão do que está acontecer com o equipamento transformado em lixo eletrónico e de apresentar algumas propostas para minimizar este problema. Uma das principais questões a ser respondida será a adequação das diretivas europeias.

Payment for performance in the Family Health Programme: lessons from the UK Quality and Outcomes Framework

OBJECTIVE: Payment for performance financial incentive schemes reward doctors based on the quality and the outcomes of their treatment. In Brazil, the Ministry of Health is looking to scale up its use in public hospitals and some municipalities are developing payment for performance schemes even for the Family Health Programme. In this article the Quality and Outcomes Framework used in the UK since 2004 is discussed, as well as its experience to elaborate some important lessons that Brazilian municipalities should consider before embarking on payment for performance scheme in primary care settings.

Liderança em agrupamentos de territórios de intervenção prioritária: imperativos, contingências e lógicas de acção

Centrado na acção de liderança, este estudo propôs-se identificar as contingências e imperativos inerentes ao processo de implementação do programa TEIP num agrupamento de escolas. Especificamente, pretendeu-se captar a heterogeneidade das lógicas de mudança e identificar modos de apropriação subjectiva da liderança pedagógica e organizacional. Os resultados reforçam a ideia de que implementar um programa novo é construção de complexidade holística, implicando a conjunção integrada de múltiplas estratégias de liderança. Discutem-se os resultados à luz das teorizações iniciais, com relevo para as lógicas de prestação de contas e alguns sinais de „balcanização‟ organizacional.

Experiência, transformação social e currículo escolar: contribuições de Paulo Freire

O ensaio é motivado pelo debate sobre quais seriam os conhecimentos a serem trabalhados em nome de uma qualidade educacional. Estes conhecimentos, muitas vezes tomados como básicos e universais, são entendidos, em algumas propostas que se reforçam por meio das políticas avaliativas de larga escala, como responsáveis pela melhoria dos resultados da educação. Para realização do contraponto à forma como o conteúdo programático da educação é ainda hoje percebido, são resgatadas algumas contribuições de Paulo Freire ao construir sua proposta de educação libertadora: o humanismo, como o compromisso radical com o homem concreto rumo à promoção da transformação social; a práxis, como a capacidade de atuar e refletir na direção das finalidades objetivadas coletivamente; e a síntese cultural, como o novo conteúdo da educação, comprometido com o ser mais de educadores e educandos que, mediados pelo mundo, tentam o refletir/reconstruir de forma crítica, compartilhando compreensões.

Design of a doctorate programme on technology assessment: A sabbatical leave project

The work agenda includes the production of a report on different doctoral programmes on “Technology Assessment” in Europe, the US and Japan, in order to analyse collaborative post-graduation activities. Finally, the proposals on collaborative post-graduation programme between FCTUNL and ITAS-FZK will be organised by an ongoing discussion process with colleagues from ITAS.

An internet remote laboratory to teach industrial automation

This paper presents the new internet remote laboratory (IRL), constructed at Mechanical Engineering Department (MED), Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa (ISEL), to teach Industrial Automation, namely electropneumatic cycles. The aim of this work was the development and implementation of a remote laboratory that was simple and effective from the user point of view, allowing access to all its functionalities through a web browser without having to install any other program and giving access to all the features that the students can find at the physical laboratory. With this goal in mind, it has been implemented a simple architecture with the new programmable logic controller (PLC) SIEMENS S7-1200, and with the aid of several free programs, programming technologies such as JavaScript, PHP and databases, it was possible to have a remote laboratory, with a simple interface, to teach industrial automation students.

Controling delayed transitions with applications to prevent single species extinctions

A new method is proposed to control delayed transitions towards extinction in single population theoretical models with discrete time undergoing saddle-node bifurcations. The control method takes advantage of the delaying properties of the saddle remnant arising after the bifurcation, and allows to sustain populations indefinitely. Our method, which is shown to work for deterministic and stochastic systems, could generally be applied to avoid transitions tied to one-dimensional maps after saddle-node bifurcations.